7/6/2023
It can be said that those involved in administering the law are not people with ordinary salaries. Along with large salaries, there are more and more opportunities for these professionals.
Many lawyers coming out of college already know where they want to practice and what they could earn annually. That's why we're here, to find out how much a lawyer earns in the United States.
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Average salary of a U.S. lawyer per year
A career in law has different benefits, such as good pay. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average salary for a lawyer in the USA during 2021 hovered around $128,000 per year.
This translates to a compensation of $61.54 an hour, which is not insignificant in a field that has more than 800,000 jobs and is estimated to grow by 10% over a 10-year period.
Of course, those fresh out of college have to settle for lower pay. In fact, the lowest salary for inexperienced lawyers is no more than $62,000; less than the national average, but above the average U.S. salary.
In contrast, the most experienced lawyers with established law firms earn more than $200,000.
Top-earning lawyers in the U.S.
When we talk about income among legal experts, the differences appear according to the specialization they have. Since there are several branches of law, some offer better compensation than others.
In addition, some lawyers do not have a fixed monthly remuneration or it is very low, obtaining much of their money through commissions.
The most recent data shows that you don't have to be a trial lawyer to get the highest pay possible. Among the highest paying specialties we find intellectual property, medical law and patent attorney.
Here's what the BLS has published:
- Specialty design: $233,400
- Computer equipment manufacturing: $221,000
- Motion picture industry: $218,360.
- Cable underwriting and other programming: $216,860.
- Manufacture of navigational, measuring and other instruments: $208,460.
It is important to note that the cases mentioned above do not hire many lawyers and only represent 1% of the labor market. In areas where there is more competition and incomes below $200,000, the average for business lawyers is usually $184,640 because it is an industry that employs 20,000 professionals.
At the other extreme is legal services, a field that contains more than 400,000 lawyers. Although the pay does not reach the above, the median is at $153,630 annually.
Like physicians and airline pilots, another crucial factor for better pay has to do with location, something we'll address below.
Lawyer Salary by State
Naturally, lawyers in the USA are not going to have a similar income state by state. We generally don't have data from different sources showing similar figures.
September's data reveals that legal professionals working in Washington DC and California earn the most: $197,100 and $179,470 respectively.
Thanks to the film industry and Silicon Valley, CA has about 84,000 employed jurists and DC has at least 31,000 (5th on the list). The other top paying states are:
- New York: $174,060
- Massachusetts: $169,120
- Connecticut: $158,190
- Texas: $142,730
- Florida: $139,160
If you want to compare data between sources, we leave you with this list where salaries are lower and the states that pay the most are different.
Average salaries in large and small firms
Large law firms know what they want and pay good money to have the best talent available. Any firm that has more than 500 jurists is categorized as large.
According to the data, the base salary in a major city with one of these firms starts at $190,000. In contrast, a small firm gives a base salary of $73,000.
Distinctions between lawyer and attorney
Although the two terms refer to the lawyer, in practice they do not mean the same thing. A lawyer is not necessarily practicing law, while an attorney (with a BAR license) is. In addition, there may be differences in how much they earn.
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According to Glassdoor, the base salary for an attorney is $112,600 per year. Likewise, contract attorneys and tax lawyers earn just over $100,000.
Lawyers who act as in-house consultants make $117,000. The lowest earners are personal injury lawyers, whose base salary is typically $76,700.
This does not imply that the salary of all attorneys is below $120,000. The government pays an average of $150,000 annually and the Department of Justice pays just over $163,000. There are also other openings for these professionals that pay over $200,000.
As you have seen, a lawyer in the United States can be among the highest paid professionals. About this and other careers, we will continue to give you updated information in Busconomico.
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